MagazineVermont Sports Issue PDFs: March 2011 November 2010 September/October 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009

The Best Mountain Biking Ski Season Ever

If you’re a skier but you don’t own a mountain bike, I pity you. One of my buddies summed up this year’s spring ski season best when he commented, “This ski season has been the best mountain biking season ever.”

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been a warm and dry spring. With the exception of this past week, we’ve had more than our fair share of sunshine. Combined with the lack of snowfall, this has been a godsend for mountain bikers. Apparently, buff singletrack grows from the tears of frustrated spring skiers.

Most years, April is the time for corn harvesting: corn snow that is. Usually the snow depositories in the upper reaches of the White and Green mountains are ripe for the picking in the warm spring sun. However, my early March trip to the quickly disintegrating snowpack on the Gulf of Slides made it apparent that this wasn’t going to be a typical year.

After seeing the early season carnage, I sank into a depression. In fact, I was so depressed that I dug deep into my shed and broke out my mountain bike to try and ease the pain. This was no easy feat. Touching my mountain bike in March, much less thinking about it, is verboten. I was breaking the rules. I was effectively turning my back on winter. But sometimes you have to break the rules. Change the game. Adapt.

Depression cured.

The result has been over 300 miles of mountain biking in March and April. I’ve already made my first trip to Kingdom Trails, where I found the trails drier and in better condition than at any point last year. By comparison, I didn’t even start mountain biking last year until the beginning of May, and it wasn’t until late July that I approached the 300 mile mark on singletrack.

Not a bad evening to be out.

This is going to be a special year. So don’t be a whiner. Be an opportunist.

And if you’re not a mountain biker, it’s time to go to your local bike shop and get acquainted with the thin dirty line. It might just make you forget that you didn’t make it to Tuckerman this year.

About the Author

Andy Howard Andy Howard grew up in the woods of the Northeast Kingdom and learned at an early age that skiing and biking in the trees is fun. After living in North Carolina and Georgia, he eventually found his way back to New England and now lives in the Boston area where he balances a legal career with his love for exploration and adventure.